Eric's thorough and somewhat calming analysis . . . By: Eric Fawcett -- April 19, 2025 Guard Denzel Aberdeen is in the transfer portal, and the Florida Gators will have to now readjust some of their roster building ideas as they deal with a loss they weren’t expecting to have. What The Loss Of Denzel Aberdeen Means For The Gators | GatorCountry.com
Aberdeen could have created his own NIL deals separate from UF’s collective so long as they did not conflict with pre-existing deals the collective has with other endorsers. That being the case, it is hard to imagine that the real reason was that he wanted money that we wouldn’t pay him when he could have created his own money. There is more to this picture than we are being told.
Good Good article given paltry information at this point; we’ll know more details in time. “Better get busy living or get busy dying” We just won the NC! Some many things can happen that can strengthen our team. We have a lot to look forward to, including a top caliber head coach!
Of all the teams it would have to be Kentucky. 76. Denzel Aberdeen, 6-5, G, Jr., Florida Gators Committed to Kentucky Aberdeen was projected to move into the reigning champions' starting lineup next season, so his departure came as a surprise. He averaged 7.7 points this past season, with his numbers jumping to 14.4 points and 41.4% 3-point shooting in his five starts.
From the article: "The drive Aberdeen had to try to score at all times helped him in some instances, but also hurt him at times given his somewhat limited dribble package that saw him get into trouble and force up crooked floaters". I guess Eric has more class than I do and stopped short of calling DA "selfish", otherwise, you would have said that was "crazty talk", but Eric saw the same in DA that I did and contrary to what rserina says, that's not beining a "revisionist"
I think he saw that Lee was the likely starter at the 1, Haugh was promised the sport at #3, and the Will Richard/A-Mart replacement as the #2 starter and he didn't see himself as their replacement.
He won't be starting at Kentucky either. Projected starting lineup Jaland Lowe (16.8 PPG at Pitt) Jasper Johnson (No. 17 in ESPN 100) Otega Oweh (16.2 PPG) Mouhamed Dioubate (7.2 PPG at Alabama) Jayden Quaintance (9.4 PPG at Arizona State)
He makes that KY team better. And him coming off the bench 6th man..he is better utilized. I just think his chances of him getting into the league and being a decent pick would have been better off with him as a Gator starting.
With the lar With the largesse UK surely paid, it’s not the end of the world for him. Maybe they should a (“OPSNGE”) League (Over Paid Still Not Good Enough)
Again, had nothing to do with playing time. He would have started at the two, and I haven’t heard anyone in the hoops world say otherwise. And he has no more certainty of starting at UK (unless he is dead set on playing the one). This is was primarily, if not exclusively, about NIL money, which UK is spending like Pez candy.
Very astute. And he isn't really a key piece of the puzzle. Now I am not saying we are prepared to go back-to-back, but to think he is Martin 2.0 is kind of silly and "Gator Basketball Fan-like". It sort of hurts, but I trust Todd WAY more than I do what Kentucky thinks of Aberdeen's skills on the court. IMO, Mark Pope is still trying to figure things out. He was NOT the basketball version of Urban Meyer. His success at BYU was alright. Nothing more. He would not have been selected their coach if he weren't "one of them".
I guess we all got to see a national championship for our team in large part due to NIL, and it would be hypocritical to complain about NIL today. But man, sports are so different now. We had guys return to school to win another championship even though they all had NBA careers waiting for them. Now, a kid wins a championship and switches to a rival team without blinking. Even the NBA doesn’t have that kind of thing. I do think fans are going to lose interest … imagine having a team that is a year away from being really good and then half of them leave to play for your rival? How many fans are going to stick around for that? The courts really messed this up. What’s next? This rule isn’t fair, so teams have to change how the game is played? Maybe Rioux decides he wants to break some of the records that Clark set last year in college and a court decides he can be a girl? We’ve created a complete mess of things and while I’m happy about the trophy it really does seem as if this whole thing is going to come down to who has the most money and that’s about as interesting as watching your kid get a trophy for participating.
